HUMAN By:Twilight Sparkle
by psychokinrazalon
Summary: Twilight's read a plethora of books in her young life, and now she's made the transition from reader to writer. For her first project, she resolves to create a world far removed from her own, one that makes she and her friends truly appreciate everything they once took for granted. Please review, as I would like to know what people think of this idea.
1. Chapter 1

It was a wonderful day in Ponyville. The sky was clear, the ponies were out and about, and everything was running like clockwork. Rainbow Dash was speeding through the skies above the simple town enjoying her day off from weather control. She had been looking forward to that day for the past few, and for one reason alone.

"I can't wait to finish reading Daring Do!" she exclaimed, "Those books make me SOOO proud to be an egghead."

As she homed in on the library, Dashie noticed Spike carrying a stack of supplies in the front door. She momentarily ceased flying to greet the baby dragon.

"Hey Spike, whatcha doing?"

Spike turned his head to her. "Oh, hi Rainbow Dash; Twilight asked me to pick up some quills and parchment for her. This is the third load I've had to get for her this week."

"Third!? Does that pony do ANYTHING besides study?"

Spike clutched the library's front door handle. "Actually, Twilight's been working on a personal project of hers . . ."

As Spike opened the door, one of the scrolls of parchment fell off the stack and to the ground, unrolling at least five yards worth before stopping.

". . . and it's longer than anything she's done for Princess Celestia thus far. Could you get that?" Spike looked back to Rainbow Dash, or at least to where she was before entering through the library's top balcony, leaving Spike alone. Spike groaned and placed the load of supplies on the ground to retrieve the fallen scroll.

Inside the library, Rainbow Dash saw Twilight on the ground floor, using her magic to write on a piece of parchment with a quill. Rainbow Dash took notice to Twilight's unusual franticness in her writing. While Twilight was always frantic to get stuff done on time, Rainbow Dash heard what Spike said about this being for fun, which got the Pegasus pony curious about Twilight's behavior.

"Hey Twilight, what's up? Besides me, of course." Dashie giggled as she descended to the ground floor.

Twilight took no notice to Rainbow's question and instead continued writing. Very sheepishly, the Pegasus pony landed on the ground and approached the purple unicorn.

"Well, um . . . anyway Twilight, can I borrow that last Daring Doo book?"

Twilight momentarily ceased writing and used her magic to telekinetically move the book in question off a nearby shelf and into Rainbow's mouth.

"Thinks," the blue Pegasus said as she began trotting toward the front door. She didn't get very far however, as the sound of Twilight's resumed writing reached her ears. Setting the Daring Doo book down onto the center table, she re-approached Twilight.

"So, Twilight, what's this project you're working on anyway?"

Like before, Twilight said nothing back. Instead, she continued writing without so much as a blink or a cough interrupting her. Shrugging, Rainbow Dash decided to forget about her and get back to Daring Doo. Once again, she hadn't gone very far when . . .

"IT'S DONE!" Twilight shouted.

The sudden exclamation caused Rainbow Dash to fall forwards onto her stomach.

"What the hay, Twilight!"

Just then, Spike entered through the front door carrying the supplies. He momentarily struggled to hold onto them with one hand as he opened the door with the other.

"I've got the stuff you wanted, Twilight."

"Thanks Spike," she responded, placing the quill back into the ink cup, "Just leave them by my desk and come here; I need to know what you think of this."

Spike did as he was told and joined Twilight by the fireplace. Rainbow Dash recovered from her fall and continued making her way towards the Daring Doo book.

"Hey Rainbow," Twilight said from across the room, "Why don't you come join us? I could use multiple opinions on this."

Rainbow thought for a moment. "Sure, why not?"

Rainbow flew over to join Spike and Twilight, intent on listening to what Twilight's pet project was.

"Now before I start reading," Twilight said to the two of them, "I should note that this was inspired by our many journeys through the Everfree Forest. I've been fascinated by how different from the rest of Equestria it is, and it got me thinking; what if there existed an entire world that operated under its physics?"

Spike and Rainbow Dash both looked at each other with a quizzical look.

"What do you mean?" Spike asked Twilight.

"I mean, what if there existed an entire world where the weather controlled itself? Pegasus ponies would be useless, if not non-existent."

Rainbow Dash's interest suddenly grew. Daring Doo would definitely have to wait.

"And that thought led me to another; all three ponykinds depend on each other, especially Earth ponies, since they depend on the Pegasus ponies to provide weather ideal for farming. But if the weather controlled itself, Earth ponies wouldn't know when and where to plant their crops, making it harder for them to survive."

Rainbow Dash and Spike looked at each other again, but this time each with a look of amazement.

"And that thought led to yet another one; where would Unicorns fit into this world? Well, after seeing just how decrepit the Everfree forest is, I've determined Unicorns would be absent from such a world. Otherwise, they'd use their magic to make everything perfect and aligned. After all, you both know how obsessed Rarity . . . and myself . . . are with keeping things neat and tidy and perfect. This world's lack of unicorns also means a complete absence of unicorn magic, i.e. nothing to raise the sun and moon. For this reason, the sun and moon come up and down by themselves in this world."

At this point, Spike and Rainbow Dash had their full attention on Twilight. The provocative questions she was explaining would've never crossed their minds if not for her.

"All these thoughts eventually gave me the idea to create such a world through fiction. Be warned though, it's not pleasant. In fact, I don't think anypony in history has envisioned something as corrupted, hateful, chaotic, and violent as this. I'm afraid of what Celestia might think of me if she sees this, so can you two keep this a secret?"

"Of course I can," Dashie responded.

"My lips are sealed," Spike said.

"Can you also keep it a secret from Applejack and Pinkie Pie?"

"Why?"

Twilight gave a worried smile. "Well, I wanted to link real life with this little world of my creation, so I used Earth ponies to fill that role. The thing is, I decided to make them subservient to this world's only sentient beings because they wouldn't fit in any other way."

Rainbow Dash and Spike stared blankly for a moment before doing a Pinkie promise gesture with their hoof and hand, respectively, to which Twilight chuckled.

"Alright then, here we go."

Twilight began reading from the top of the parchment.

_Welcome to a world where the air you breathe is foul, nature takes no favors, and living things must kill each other for their own survival. You may have visited worlds like this in your worst nightmares, but for the creatures that really live there, it's nothing but unending pain and suffering. In this world, nature operates independent of outside manipulation. This world is also decrepit beyond repair and no amount of tidying and decorating can fix it. Lastly, friendship is all but non-existent. Every living thing communicates differently, making it impossible to form bonds outside of their own kind._

_ It's because of this struggle with communication that war and discrimination exists constantly, usually stemming over the pettiest of disagreements. And violence isn't even the worst this world has to offer. And here we introduce the dominant species of this world, who simply refer to one another as "people". Of all the living things in this world, people are the most horrible. What makes them the most horrible is how they judge each other over every difference between them regardless of significance; everything from appearances to ideals is subject to judgment. Not only that, for the longest time in this world people often made slaves out of those they considered to be inferior. While people would indeed use equines to help them with various tasks, slaves would actually be treated worse than them, despite being the same species as their masters. This, again, stems from people's tendencies to be extra judgmental. Much like how things were before Equestria was founded, this world's people maintained a shaky trust with each other, but this trust would never remain for long. Wars would break out very often between, and sometimes even within, countries of this world. Despite all the violence and bloodshed, people knew there was an alternate to war in diplomacy and would try to use it before all else. The power of diplomacy in this world, however, was limited as a result of people's judgmental natures, and it was this fact that kept people as a whole from uniting to make the world better for not just themselves, but for all living things._

_ While friendships were non-existent between different peoples of this world, alliances between country's leaders were formed. With these alliances in place, if a country came under attack from an enemy, any country who's an ally of said country is required to lend support to fight back the attackers. Unfortunately, these alliances would lead to the greatest bloodbath in history up to its time, known simply as the Great War. With years of distrust and tensions holding people back, all it took was a little spark to ignite the flames of war, and that spark came one summer morning in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. _

_ Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was touring . . ._

"Wait a minute, Twilight." Rainbow Dash said.

"Yes," Twilight answered.

"Where'd you come up with those weird names?"

"Well, it wasn't easy. I knew that a separate world with different intelligent life who spoke different languages would have to have strange ways of naming everything. The names I've given in this world don't mean anything; I only used them because they sounded cool."

"Well, I know cool," Rainbow responded, "And Franz Ferdinand just doesn't work for me."

"Well tough," Twilight said, "This is my story."

As Twilight began to pick up from where she had left off, there was a knock on the front door.

"Come in!" Twilight shouted.

The front door opened to reveal Rarity wearing a beautiful cream colored dress rimmed in white with pink frills. As expected, Spike went crush-eyed over Rarity's new dress. Rarity, not wanting to deny Spike's attentive gaze, spoke directly to him. "You like, no?"

"I like very much," Spike lazily said.

"Did you come here for anything other than to show that off?" Twilight chimed.

"What? I need all my friends' opinions on each and every dress I craft. How else can I know if I'm creating perfection, or colored filth?"

"Well," Rainbow Dash said, "It looks about as good as your last one."

"Oh thank y- . . . wait, is that good or not?"

"Ahem." Twilight cleared her throat to silence her friends. "I'd like to continue with my story, if you'd please pay attention."

Rarity glanced at the scroll in Twilight's lap before staring up at her. "Judge my new dress and I'd be ever so grateful to critique your own work."

"Fine," Twilight replied, "I agree with Rainbow Dash, and by that I mean it looks the EXACT SAME as your last dress."

"EXACT SAME?" Rarity scoffed, "I'll have you know my last dress was colored pure white, while this one uses a new pigment mix fabric I created spec-."

"IT LOOKS NICE!"

Rarity smiled and sat down in between Spike and Rainbow Dash intent on keeping her end of the deal. Twilight magically lifted the scroll out of her lap and continued from where she had left off.

_Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was touring the Austro-Hungarian city of Sarajevo, Bosnia, when a young assassin by the name of Gavrilo Princip approached and attacked him and his wife, fatally wounding them. It was eventually discovered that young Gavrilo had ties to the Kingdom of Serbia, the Austro-Hungarian empires' rival for power. For several weeks afterwards, diplomatic resolutions were attempted, but ultimately failed. On the 28__th__ day of the seventh month of that same year, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war against the Kingdom of Serbia. As a result of said declaration, every ally both sides had was immediately drawn into the fight, thereby spreading the violence and bloodshed across the whole continent._

Twilight glanced up from the parchment to check on rarity. As she expected, the fashionista was rapt with attention. Twilight continued her story.

_The Great War was referred to as such for one reason alone, and that was the sheer amount of violence and death that resulted from it. Like all wars, only the most up to date technology and the most combat skilled fighters were used. As such, one soldier could take down rows upon rows of advancing enemies by themselves, making territorial progression for both sides impossible. In essence, both sides were sending their own out just to be slaughtered. The war continued this way for four long years until, at long last, the Allied powers (made up of the countries of France, Russia, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Serbia) with a little help from the recently formed United States of America, managed to push back the Central powers (made up of the Austro-Hungarian empire and the country of Germany) and eventually into defeat._

Twilight rolled up the scroll. She looked up to see her friends with looks of mild confusion on their faces. Twilight knew what they were thinking.

"That's the end of it for now. I'm still brainstorming ideas for part two, but I'll finish it in due time. So, what'd you all think of part one?"

"Well," Rarity said, "I must admit I never would've guessed you were capable of writing something so morbid and twisted. However, I also must admit I never would've guessed you had such a creative mind. All in all, well done Twilight."

"Ditto," Rainbow Dash said, "Though if I was writing it, I'd have substituted the Allied powers for . . ."

"Wait, don't tell me," Twilight said, "Yourself?"

Rainbow Dash blushed.

Twilight levitated the scroll onto the nearby desk. With her story done for the time being, Rainbow Dash and Rarity resumed their business and left upon completion, intent on hearing the rest of Twilight's story upon completion.


	2. Chapter 2

_Everywhere she looked, Fluttershy could see nothing but carnage strewn about the landscape. Faceless, mangled bodies of unidentifiable origin lay around the now dead battlefield as she trotted through the carnage. She was not horrified, however, but rather relieved that she was alive. She approached one of the corpses on the ground and gave it a slight kick with her hoof. It made a wet, squishy sound on contact, indicating it was still fresh. The yellow Pegasus gave no comment as she continued trotting along, eager to reach her destination._

_ After some time, she could make out base camp about a mile in front of her. Before she could pick up her pace, however, she heard a loud bang, followed by a sudden sharp pain in her right flank. She toppled over, crying out in pain as she realized she had been sniped by an unforeseen enemy. She looked down at her flank to see a bullet hole in between the three butterflies that made up her cutie mark. Blood was gushing out from the wound, slowly draining the helpless Pegasus of the life she had just recently held onto. Realizing she was doomed, Fluttershy closed her eyes and braced for the second bullet. She heard another bang, but felt no bullet this time. Opening her eyes, she found herself staring into the eyes of the princess of the night herself, Luna._

_ "A very morbid dream, dear Fluttershy," she said, "What hath invoked such violent images within your mind?"_

_ "I don't know-wait, this is a dream?" Fluttershy answered, "It feels so real."_

_ "Everypony believes that, it seems."_

_ Luna used her magic to levitate a small, round metallic object in front of them._

_ "T'was embedded in your flank. It seems weaponry has advanced tremendously within the past thousand years. Not something we'd expect to see in a dream belonging to the bearer of kindness." Luna tossed the bullet over her shoulder, out of sight, still in mind._

_ "Well, Princess, I have been a little uneasy lately," Fluttershy replied._

_ "And what hath made thou restless, dear Fluttershy."_

_ Fluttershy sheepishly stroked her mane before she spoke. "Well, a few days ago, I heard from Rainbow Dash about this story Twilight wrote. It was . . . well, dark."_

_ "We see. Well, as we've said to Lyra, Scootaloo, Inkie, and Jib Jab, you must face your fears to make the nightmares cease."_

_ "How do I do that?"_

_ "This story that Twilight Sparkle wrote, you must read it firsthoof."_

_ "WHAT!?" Fluttershy jumped, "How's that going to help me get rid of these nightmares?"_

_ "You have only been told from secondhoof accounts about this story, therefore thou lack a clear understanding of the picture t'was trying to paint. If thou were to see the whole picture, as everypony says, thou would not be afraid of it. What everypony fears most is what they lack knowledge of."_

_ Fluttershy knew she was right. She had only been told by Rainbow Dash that Twilight's story told of hatred, warfare, and enslavement. She had no idea how all of those elements fit into the story, or even if the story was for or against them._

_ "Thank you, Princess Luna. I'll do it first thing in the morning."_

_ "Which is right about . . . now," Luna said as Fluttershy woke up to see the morning sun rising._

Twilight sat at her desk, working hard on the next part of her story. Ever since she first started this little project of hers, she had become fascinated with the idea of a world without magic. Trying to picture what would become of such a world, however, was tricky. In order to explain how a sentient race would survive generations without it, she needed to have a full understanding of how Earth ponies did. Therefore, she had a collection of Earth pony history, technology, and culture prior to Equestria in front of her, intently reading every word of importance from each one. As for the purpose of Earth ponies in this world of her creation, she realized it didn't amount to much and would probably allow Applejack and Pinkie Pie to read her story.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Come in!" Twilight called.

She turned around to see Fluttershy slowly walk in through the front door, her head slumped and her face with a nervous look on it.

"Hi Fluttershy, whatch'a need?"

"Hey Twilight, I was . . . umm . . . wondering if I could . . . read that story of yours; if it's alright with you?"

"Sure Fluttershy." Twilight ceased with her reading to levitate the scroll upon which she had written the first part of her story over to Fluttershy, who grabbed it in her mouth and flew over to the staircase where she began reading it.

While reading, Fluttershy constantly felt a mix of dread and fascination at the content of Twilight's story. Being the most vulnerable and scare-prone of the Elemental bearers, Fluttershy had to restrain herself from gagging at what she was reading. But eventually, the sickness began to dissipate as she grew desensitized to the violent narrative. When she was done reading, Fluttershy took a moment to digest everything she had read. She now understood exactly what Twilight's intention was for this story, it was to show what a world without the magic that ponykind holds so dear to itself would be like; war-torn, judgmental, decrepit, etc. With that revelation, Fluttershy gained a greater appreciation for everything she may have once taken for granted; friendship, harmony, magic, everything.

"So, whadd'ya think?"

Fluttershy looked up to see Twilight looking intently at her, no doubt anxious for an answer.

"Oh . . . ummm . . . it's g-great Twilight." Fluttershy twirled the tip of her mane with her hoof before continuing. "But . . . I was wondering, i-if it's okay with you . . . if I could . . . well . . . help you out with your story."

"How so?" Twilight responded.

"Well," Fluttershy said, easing up a bit, "You only gave general descriptions of what these "people" are like, and only during times of war. If it's alright with you . . . I'd like to breathe some life into them myself, so to speak."

Twilight looked at her yellow Pegasus friend awkwardly for a moment before smiling.

"Of course it's alright Fluttershy. Here," Twilight levitated a quill and parchment from the nearby desk and brought it over to them, "Let's have a brainstorming session."

For the next couple hours, the two mares bounced ideas back and forth on how to flesh out the race of people that Twilight had created. As it turned out, Fluttershy was more useful of the two when it came to this. Twilight hadn't thought too much about what people's social lives would be like when writing her story. For this, Fluttershy suggested many things, but the most important addition she gave was that while people were mean, violent, and sadistic at heart, they constantly struggled against their own nature to better the world for not just themselves, but all living things. Another suggestion Fluttershy gave was for people to adopt animals as pets just like ponies do, and for veterinarians to exist in their world to take care of sick and/or dying animals. Among the final additions Fluttershy suggested was an identity for these people as a species. This is where Twilight proved her usefulness. The two searched through the many books surrounding them looking for anything that might help give a visual identity to this race. Looking through _Encyclopedia of Biological Classifications _by: Dr. Juni Denbi Twilight tried to find an animal that somewhat resembled her vision of what people would look like. Eventually, she decided on using monkeys as a base model for her race of people. With that decided the two resumed bouncing ideas back and forth. It was eventually decided to give these beings manes atop their heads as it was an individualizing characteristic of ponies. When it came to giving this race of people a unique name, the two mares decided to name them after the slang term "man" itself derived from "mane" that Rainbow Dash often used to establish that she feels she's "on top of" so and so; she used it mainly to establish superiority at times when her services are requested by somepony who she believes is beneath her. It was a fitting name too, as these "men" were the dominant species of their world. Twilight then decided to add the prefix hu- to the term, itself derived from "huge", to which Twilight explained to Fluttershy that she had always imagined these people as such. And with that, Twilight's race of people was officially termed "human" or "humans" in plurality, and "humankind" for the species as a whole.

As the two mares admired their work, there was a knock on the front door.

"Come in!" Twilight shouted.

The door opened to which Rarity came strolling in, this time wearing a ruby and sapphire variant of the dress she wore last time she was there.

"Oh geez Rarity," Twilight groaned, "_Another _new dress?"

"Not just a new dress darling," the fashionista pony corrected, "This ensemble is a birthday gift for my cousin Soul Doo. She lives in Hiddenite, and I've been meaning to introduce her to high class fashion for some time. So, what do you think?"

She looked to see the other unicorn and yellow Pegasus ignoring her. Feeling outraged at first, Rarity soon saw what they had been doing before she arrived.

"Have you two been working on that totally barbaric fable together?" she asked the two of them.

"Uh-huh," Twilight responded, "Fluttershy's given me a lot of helpful suggestions on how to improve it."

". . . Can I help too?"

Twilight and Fluttershy turned around, their mouths agape in shock. "YOU . . . want to HELP me?" Twilight asked.

"What?" Rarity chimed, "I can take an interest in things other than fashion you know."

"Well . . . okay," Twilight replied as she got out the quill and parchment again, "What're your ideas?"

Rarity put a hoof to her chin, lost in thought for about a minute before exclaiming, "IDEEEAAA!"

"These people that you've created, Twilight, they should always wear clothes, even outside of formal events and such."

Twilight and Fluttershy glanced at each other with quizzical looks before returning their gaze back to Rarity. "What for?" Twilight asked.

"Because darling, if you're aiming to create a world riddled with as many flaws as possible, your people that you've created should be completely insecure about how they look. While my dresses do indeed make anything that wears them look smashing, insecurity about one's natural appearance is a fashion crime in and of itself."

Twilight thought about it for a moment before answering, "Alright Rarity, you want insecurity, you got insecurity."

Rarity squealed with delight as Twilight wrote down her suggestion.

"Well darling, it's been fun helping you with your project, but I must go send this dress off to my dear sweet cousin. Ta Ta!"

Rarity trotted out the door and was gone.

"Yeah, I should be going too," Fluttershy said, "Thanks for letting me read your story."

"No problem," Twilight responded, "See ya."

Fluttershy flew out the front door and was gone as well, leaving Twilight alone to continue her work.


	3. Chapter 3

_"Well, Rarity . . . whaddya think?"_

_ "Oh my . . . Spikey Wikey, it's BEAUTIFUL."_

_ Rarity gazed upon the diamond and pearl studded platinum dress that Spike had labored over to get for her birthday. The sparkle that gleamed in her eyes was unmatched by any other she had throughout her entire lifetime. She had made and given many dresses to Spike and the rest of their friends before, but this one . . . the one that Spike had given to HER, the element of generosity herself, put all of them to shame. She couldn't deny that she had been outdone in her craft. She leaned down and planted a full on lip kiss on Spike's mouth. His cheeks growing red, Spike gave in to the warm feels filling . . . up his . . . belly . . ._

"Spike . . . SPIKE!"

Spike woke up with a start and proceeded to rush down the library stairs to answer Twilight's call.

"Yes, Twilight?" Spike asked, panting.

"Where's my book?" Twilight answered as she rushed to and fro every bookshelf and cupboard around the house, opening and looking in them frantically before closing, "I had a dream that gave me an idea of what to add to the story but I can't find it anywhere!"

Spike sighed and walked over to the desk where Twilight had been working on her project. Reaching into the cubby space the desk provided, he pulled out the parchment that contained Twilight's own little world of her creation. Twilight, upon realizing her overreaction, blushed and telekinetically took the parchment from Spike, setting it back down onto the desk.

"Thanks Spike, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Glad I could help," Spike said as he made his way back upstairs.

Spike woke up the next morning fresh as a daisy. Aside from the interruption with Twilight, he had the best night's sleep yet that month. Stretching his arms and legs, he proceeded to head downstairs again. As he was about to hit the ground floor, he glanced up to see Twilight working feverishly on her book at her desk.

"Hey Twilight, wanna go get some breakfast at Sugarcube Corner?"

Twilight didn't answer.

Spike suddenly had an unnerving thought, no doubt brought on by past experience.

"Did you stay up since I helped you last night?"

To Spike's surprise, Twilight stopped writing, but not in response to his question. Spike watched as Twilight's telekinetic grip on the quill came undone and it floated down onto the desk. Even though Twilight still stood upright, Spike heard snoring sounds coming from where she was, which essentially confirmed his suspicion. With a sigh, Spike exited the library and began making his way to Sugarcube corner for some pastries.

On the way, Spike came across Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash with the cutie mark crusaders, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom. From the looks of it, the four mares were apparently scolding the three fillies for something. Applejack sent the three away just as Spike approached.

"What was that all about?" he asked AJ.

The four mares turned to face him.

"Oh, howdy Spike," the farmpony said, "Them littl'uns were badgerin' an' beggin' the four of us to keep watch over 'em while they attempted to get "contortionist cutie marks". Sometimes ah wonder where they come up with such featherbrained schemes." She shook her head. "So how's Twilight doin' these days? She still busy workin' on that little pet project of hers?"

"Wait, how'd you know about that?" Spike asked.

"She told me'n Pinkie yesterday; said she was worried 'bout us thinkin' she saw Earth ponyfolk as below Unicorns on account'a how they're portrayed in her story. Personally, I couldn't give a hay how they're used, cause it's better'n not existing period. Am I right?"

"OH MY GOSH APPLEJACK IF WE DIDN'T EXIST THEN THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY WOULD BE USELESS AND OUR FRIENDS WOULD BE SO SAD AND I'D BE EXTRA EXTRA SAD OF COURSE HOW CAN I BE SAD IF I DON'T EXIST I WONDER IF . . ."

Rainbow Dash stuck her hoof in Pinkie's mouth, effectively shutting the party pony up.

"Thanks," Spike muttered, "Do you think you guys could check on Twilight while I'm getting breakfast for her? She didn't get any sleep last night, again."

"Well, I need to get back to my cottage," Fluttershy said, "Angel's expecting me back with a glazed carrot for _his _breakfast."

The group watched Fluttershy fly away before turning their attention back onto Spike.

"Sure thing, Spike," AJ said, "Don't you worry your scaly little head about Twilight; we'll make sure she gets some sleep."

"Thanks," Spike said before heading towards Sugarcube Corner.

"C'mon gals, let's go all Sandmare on Twilight."

A few minutes later AJ, Pinkie, and Rainbow were at the Golden Oaks library's front door. Applejack lifted a hoof and knocked. The door opened a second later, though the ponies noticed that it had been opened with magic. The first thing they saw upon entering was just what they expected; Twilight was frantically writing away on the parchment laid out on her desk, not even turning around to greet the new arrivals.

"Uh . . . hey there sugarcube," AJ said to Twilight, "Maybe ya' oughta get some sleep before ya' suffer brain damage."

"Can't," was Twilight's only reply as she continued to write without stopping.

"Come on egghead," Dash said as she flew up to Twilight, "Everypony needs a little R&R between doing the things they love; that's why I nap whenever I'm not flying or working."

Twilight said nothing, still not ceasing with the writing.

"Ooh Ooh Ooh!" Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing over to the desk, "Whatcha writing? Is it a comedy, tragedy, actiony? Wait I guess actiony isn't a word but it doesn't rhyme with comedy and tragedy. OH MY GOSH! This is that story you're writing that Dashie told me about that you told her and Applejack about; the one about that scary, spooky, so-mean-it-makes-you-want-to-put-your-hooves-up-to-your-mouth-and-gasp world. I wonder-"

"SHUT UP!"

Everypony in the room flinched and stared as Twilight broke from her writing to yell at Pinkie Pie. They were all aghast. Even though Twilight had yelled at Pinkie before, never had she done it with the level of volume and derision that she just displayed with her voice. Silence fell upon the room until Pinkie broke it.

"I'm sorry Twilight."

Twilight sighed and cast a warm and comforting, yet drowsy look at Pinkie. "I . . . forgive you . . . Pinkie . . ."

Twilight had fallen asleep right in front of them. AJ sighed herself and walked on over to Twilight and promptly whistled in her ear. Twilight immediately woke back up and AJ put a hoof on her shoulder.

"Listen sugarcube, ya' oughta get some rest before ya' suffer brain damage or whatever. If ya' want, the rest of us can contribute ideas to your story while you rest. Huh, whaddya say?"

Twilight stared at all of her friends with a neutral expression. "Okay," she said, "I suppose . . . everypony can . . ."

She had fallen asleep again. AJ just smiled and lifted the sleeping egghead onto her back to be brought up to her bedroom. Once Twilight was snug as a bug in bed, the three ponies stood around the desk and began skimming over what twilight had written so far.

Reading over what she had written so far, the three were amazed at how much content Twilight had put into her work. What had begun as a mere tale about a world where magic is nonexistent had evolved into an entire chronology of said world and its inhabitants; from "The Pyramids of Egypt" to "The New World" to "World War 1 & 2". At first, the three friends felt anything they could contribute would be useless compared to what Twilight had already created, but the chance to be omnipotent was too great allure for them, so they put their creativity to the ultimate test and began brainstorming for an idea each they would contribute.

". . . DETROIT!"

Rainbow Dash and Applejack turned to Pinkie Pie. "What?" they both said in unison.

"Detroit!" Pinkie said, proceeding to bounce up and down in excitement, "Wouldn't it be cool if Twilight's world had places named after our own, but made to sound funny; what do they call that . . . oh yeah, parodying? Detrot becomes Detroit, Stalliongrad becomes Stalingrad, Fillydelphia becomes Philadelphia, Los Pegasus becomes Los Angeles, and so many more!"

While Pinkie Pie squealed in excitement, AJ and RD looked at each other skeptically and back to Pinkie.

"Not to rain on your parade," Rainbow said, "But it's not exactly parodying unless the new name has an underlying joke or something. Detroit? I don't see any joke in that."

"Oh silly," Pinkie said, "It doesn't need to have a joke in it to be funny to pronounce."

RD and AJ looked at each other again and just shrugged; it was Pinkie logic, why try to make sense out of it?

"Alright, sugarcube," AJ said, "I guess yer idea'll work, just go write it down."

In the blink of an eye, Pinkie was at the desk with the quill in her mouth, scribbling away her idea on the parchment.

"So, Dash," AJ said to the respective pony, "What've ya thought of? I'm plum tuckered out on ideas."

The cyan Pegasus rubbed her hoof on her chin, deep in thought. After a moment, she perked up and, with the widest evil smile ever, zoomed over to the desk and snatched the quill from Pinkie Pie, who had just finished writing. She then began jotting down whatever she had come up with. AJ looked on in confusion and concern.

"Uh, Dash, what's yer idea?"

Dash finished writing and turned to look at the farmmare, the evil smile still plastered across her face. AJ watched as Pinkie Pie, looked upon the parchment and shrieked so loud both RD and AJ could've sworn their ears bled.

"Pinkie! What in tarnation was that for?"

Pinkie's hair deflated as she looked at AJ, tears in her eyes. AJ, curious, strolled on over to the parchment and read what Rainbow Dash had written down. Once she had, she felt sick to her stomach.

"Dash . . . what the hay?"

"What!?" Dash protested, "After all the stuff Twilight's put in, what's so wrong with my idea?"

"It's not wrong, sugarcube," AJ responded, "It's just sick."

"And that's why I put it in."

AJ sighed and looked on over to Pinkie Pie, who was still visibly crying. The farmpony wrapped a comforting hoof around the pink pony's shoulders.

"It's alright, Pinkie. Dash don't mean any ill-will towards anypony who's real; fictional ponies don't exist, so there's no need to fret over them gettin' turned into glue. Will ya be alright, sugarcube?"

A slight smile formed on Pinkie's face. "I think so, Applejack."

Both ponies embraced long and hard while, unbeknownst to them, Rainbow stuck her tongue out in mild disgust at the sappy display in front of her.

"Well, I'm gonna go take a nap, see you later girls," Dash said as she flew out a nearby open window.

The two remaining mares waved goodbye and split from their hug. "I should get going too, Applejack," Pinkie said, "See you later." And with that, Pinkie exited through the front door.

All by her lonesome, AJ thought long and hard about what she could contribute to Twilight's world. Thinking back to all of her friends, she remembered how everything they had contributed dealt with their element, occupation, or interests. AJ looked at her cutie mark; a bunch of apples, so maybe she should contribute something dealing with food. She remembered reading about how the humans of Twilight's world were carnivorous. While that was alright, AJ felt they shouldn't be REQUIRED to eat meat; that they should be omnivorous and have the choice to eat whatever they wanted. With that, Applejack walked over to the desk and picked up the quill and began writing her idea down. Upon completion, she too exited the library, content that she, Pinkie, and Dash had done a good job helping Twilight with her creation.


	4. Chapter 4

Had anypony tried to enter the Golden Oaks library for any purpose, whether it was checking in or out a book or attempting to coerce Twilight into attending a current event in town, they would've been prevented entry due to the force field the purple unicorn mare had surrounded her home with. Ponies who walked by the library did indeed stare at the barrier with confusion and concern, but they all knew about Twilight's mental state on account of the Want it, Need it, Smarty Pants incident. Whatever Twilight was up to, they would all think, it's better if she kept it isolated to her home and away from everypony else. All of Twilight's closest friends, however, were growing increasingly concerned with her well being.

It had been a couple of months since Twilight had started work on her HUMAN project, as she was now calling it, and a few days since Twilight had put up the barrier. Her friends knew exactly what she intended with it; keep everypony from distracting her until she was finished. Spike had been allowed to exit the library by way of Twilight's teleportation, and had been keeping the group informed as to what Twilight's current physical and psychological states were from time to time. At first the group believed they should write a letter to Celestia before the situation could get more out of hoof, but then they started to worry that Celestia might follow through on a punishment if they did, especially after the Want it, Need it, Smarty Pants incident. Therefore, it was decided that they should all wait out Twilight's project and only forcibly interfere if she began putting anypony's well being in jeopardy.

Currently, Spike was returning home after heading out for a box of cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner. Twilight hadn't requested any food for a couple of days, but Spike decided to bring some for her anyway. By the time he returned to the library, however, his hunger had gotten the best of him and he had eaten over half of the cupcakes, leaving only four left for Twilight.

"IT'S DONE!"

The sudden exclamation from inside the library startled Spike, making him drop the remaining cupcakes onto the ground. Before the baby dragon could groan in frustration, however, he was teleported inside the library where he found himself staring at Twilight bouncing around the ground floor like a maniac, clutching an enormous rolled-up scroll with her magic. All the dragon could do was stare in confusion and concern until the purple unicorn finally remembered his presence.

"Spike!" she exclaimed, looking at him with the widest grin possible, "I've finally finished my own little world!"

"That's . . . great," Spike replied. No matter how many times Twilight went hyper-emotional, it seemed he never could find immunity to its effect on himself.

"You betcha," Twilight said, "And I know just what to do with it."

The purple unicorn immediately picked up a nearby quill and blank parchment.

"NO!" Spike shouted.

Twilight turned to look at him, her jaw agape and eyes blank in surprise.

"You've done enough, Twilight," Spike continued, "You've done nothing but write for too long. I'm surprised you're mane and tail aren't disheveled from lack of grooming. You NEED to get out of here and do something else. Staying in here for too long is unhealthy; one would think you'd know that by now."

Twilight continued to stare blankly at her assistant for a few moments before sighing. She realized Spike was right; she HAD been cooped up in the library for far too long. She immediately thought of her friends, of how they must be worried sick about her well-being. Still, she wanted to find SOME way to continue work on her project. An idea was hatched within her overused brain.

"You're right, Spike," she replied, "Let's go celebrate my accomplishment with our friends. After all, they had a helping hoof in it themselves, no matter how small it may have been."

Spike sighed with relief. "Sure thing, let's go."

And with that, the pair set off to gather all their friends for celebration.

_As the citizens of lower Manhattan looked up at the North Tower in both awe and concern, a noise most familiar could be heard swiftly approaching the immediate area. Looking overhead for the source of the noise, a second plane was seen dangerously close to the ground closing in on the second of the towers. The collision with the first tower had attracted the attention of every news outlet in the city, and as camcorders watched the smoking gash left in said tower from the first plane, the second plane crashed into the South Tower for the whole world to see. The screams of onlookers was immeasurable as shock from the realization that the collisions were not accidental but a coordinated assault hit everyone hard and fast, just like how the planes had hit the tow-_

"STOP! STOP! I can't take anymore!"

Everypony had all been so enraptured by Twilight's reading of some more of her story that when Fluttershy suddenly raised her voice they all flinched.

"Darn it, Fluttershy," Applejack said.

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash agreed, "That's the, what . . . THIRD time you've interrupted Twilight."

"Relax girls," Twilight stated. She looked at the now weeping yellow Pegasus with a sorrowful look in her eyes, "Fluttershy, I know you're upset about this, but remember that this is all fiction. Humans aren't real; they're just a figment of my imagination."

Fluttershy looked up for a brief moment before returning to her crying. Twilight sighed. She and Spike had invited the rest of their friends out for smoothies to celebrate Twilight's completion of her story. When most of them had asked to hear how their contributions were implemented, Twilight obliged and read from some of the last few chapters. While her friends cheered when they heard how one of their ideas had been added, Fluttershy shook from distress whenever Twilight read a particularly violent passage. This continued until she had her outburst, to which she buried her face in her hooves and let loose the waterworks.

Once Fluttershy ran out of tears, Twilight asked, "Will you be alright?" to which the yellow Pegasus nodded.

"Now then," Twilight continued, "I have another tidbit of news to announce."

All of her friends looked at Twilight excitedly. Twilight took a couple gulps of her smoothie before resuming.

"Such a literary masterpiece as the one **we **created deserves to be published in hardback. I know a publisher back in Canterlot who could do just that. With me being Princess Celestia's personal protégé, I can all but guarantee he'll agree to do it. I'm telling you all this because since you all helped me write it, it's only fair for you all to receive an equal share of profits. Need I say more?"

Twilight looked at each of her friends to see them all smiling. Taking a sip of her own smoothie, Applejack spoke up.

"Well, that's mighty kind of ya sugarcube. I'd definitely love t' be able t' pay for some renovatin' around Sweet Apple Acres."

"Yes, thank you Twilight dear," Rarity said, "Every single bit certainly helps me and my boutique."

"Th . . . th . . . thank you," Fluttershy stuttered.

"Ooh, maybe we could throw a we-all-get-rich party," Pinkie Pie said, "IT'D BE GREAT!"

"I know what I'd do if I had a few thousand bits," Rainbow Dash said, "Book a reservation at that new DELOS resort."

"I'm glad to see you're all as excited about this as I am," Twilight said as she levitated the enormous scroll her story was written upon, "I think this little world of ours will teach everyone who reads it a very important lesson, not just in friendship but life itself. No matter how miserable, depressed, spiteful, or disabled you might be you can go on and be happy in life. That's essentially what humans represent in this story; despite going through countless wars, upheavals, and tragedies they always get up, dust themselves off, and set about their lives with a smile on their face."

After Twilight finished her little speech, tears formed in the eyes of everypony in the group, even the usually stubborn and prideful Rainbow Dash. For the next few minutes, they let loose their tears freely, not caring what anypony else may think of them. Twilight's speech had moved them too much to care. Seeing all of her friends crying made Twilight shed a few tears herself, only to be cut off by the sound of roaring flames to her left. She turned to see Spike in the process of sending a letter to the princess.

"SPIKE!" Twilight shouted.

Unfazed by the loud exclamation practically right in his ear, Spike looked up at Twilight with a modest smile on his face and a few tears of his own adorning his cheeks.

"Don't worry, I caught every word."

Realizing Spike's deed, Twilight sighed and patted her assistant on the head.

It had been a week since Twilight sent her story to the publisher in Canterlot. Just as she expected, her reply letter informed her that her story was to be published and made available for purchase right away. Twilight couldn't help but feel a rush of pride at being able to return the gesture to all the great authors she had admired all throughout her life by contributing such an enlightening as her story; which had been given the temporary title PEOPLE before she settled on HUMAN. The publisher had said that he had never seen anything bursting with as much creativity and philosophical importance as HUMAN, and if word of mouth worked in their favor, he expected to sell at least 1 million copies of HUMAN by the end of the month.

Currently, Twilight was sleeping the morning in, something she hadn't done since she started work on HUMAN and rarely even before then. She was woken out of her slumber, however, by a knocking on the library's front door.

"Spike," she said, groggily, "Could you get that?"

When no answer came but more knocking, Twilight looked up to see Spike wasn't in bed. Realizing he must've gone out for something, Twilight rolled out of bed and, after stretching her legs, headed downstairs to the front door. More knocking came.

"I'M COMING," Twilight yelled at the visitor on the opposite side of the door.

Using her telekinesis, Twilight opened the front door to a most unexpected sight. Before the library stood a crowd of at least half of Ponyville's population. As she looked closer, Twilight saw they all had something in common; they were all holding a book to their chests with a forehoof, one that read HUMAN and showed a picture of a human male wearing what looked to be a set of blue pants, a white shirt, black and gray shoes, and a black jacket of sorts. As realization dawned on Twilight, a certain unicorn mare near the front of the crowd stepped forward, the widest smile possible present on her face.

"So," Lyra said, "How long before the sequel?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Okay, gotta think gotta think gotta think."

It was the following evening since Twilight discovered how popular her book was. During the time between, she had contacted the book's publisher asking why everypony was asking about a sequel like one was guaranteed. The publisher, in response, admitted to including an advertisement on the book's last page for one, but made sure to keep vague its release date. Twilight had a rage fit in response, saying that they never agreed to more than a one book deal. As Twilight found out in his next reply, however, the contract she had signed giving him publication rights included a clause stating that the publisher could request up to two more books from her. The clause also stated that should Twilight fail to comply with his request, then she'd lose all rights to her first book, which included monetary gain. While Twilight was indeed correct that the deal was for one book, she would have to expand her work into a trilogy if she wished to receive so much as one bit for all her (and her friends') hard work. She didn't have the heart to tell her friends all their contributions to her story were in vain, so in her last reply to the publisher Twilight announced she would begin work on the next two books immediately.

This is why Twilight was currently pacing back and forth across her tree house, repeatedly saying "Gotta think" out loud to herself. After having almost single-hoofedly written an entire world into existence, she could surely construct enough material from said world for two more books; all she needed to do was gather her thoughts into a single idea to use as a base idea before building on top of that.

"SURPRISE!"

Twilight jumped at the sudden exclamation from nowhere. She knew it was Pinkie Pie, and she knew why she was here. She turned around to see the party pony wearing a blue polka dotted party hat and about a dozen balloons tied around her midsection. Twilight looked behind Pinkie to see the rest of her friends along with Lyra Heartstrings.

"Come on Twilight, it's time for your I'm-now-a-professional-writer party," Pinkie stated, "Me and everypony else are SO excited for you and . . ."

Pinkie stoped talking when Twilight raised a hoof and gestured accordingly.

"I appreciate the thought Pinkie, I really always do," Twilight replied, "But right now isn't the best time. I just found out I'm contractually obliged to write two more books or else I lose all rights to my work."

"Speaking of that," Lyra said, sticking her head into view, "What's the sequel gonna be like? I loved, loved, LOVED the humans you created and I CAN'T WAIT to read more about them."

Everypony else either rolled their eyes or cast an amused glance at Lyra before returning their gaze to Twilight.

"What's the problem with that?" Rainbow Dash asked while hovering, "You've got plenty of time for more work. Right now, let's just sit back, relax, and PARTY!"

Everypony started to cheer in excited response before Twilight cast a spell to temporarily silence everyone. Upon realizing they couldn't talk, they returned their focus to Twilight to which she cancelled the spell.

"Look everypony," she began, "I never intended to make HUMAN an ongoing series; it was just a one shot to me; because of that, I'm lacking ideas for a sequel. And no sequel means no bits for us?"

For a few seconds after she finished, Twilight observed various reactions on each of her friends: Spike had a neutral expression, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity had looks of worry on their faces, Fluttershy was timidly rubbing her hooves, Pinkie Pie was humming to herself with her eyes closed and a smile on her face, and Lyra was on the verge of tears.

_Wait a minute, _Twilight thought.

After pondering a few more moments, a wide grin burst on Twilight's face, much to the concern and/or confusion of her friends.

"Uh, y'alright sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

"More than alright," Twilight answered as she levitated several nearby quills and parchment rolls over towards everypony, "I just figured out what to do for the sequel."

Everypony gasped and wide smiles spread across all their faces, with Lyra's topping them all.

Twilight continued. "Seeing all your different reactions a moment ago to my news, I got an idea. The first book detailed the human race as a whole, but it never really focused on any one individual and their personality. So for the sequel, I propose we all write a vignette showcasing a human character of our own creation and how they're viewed within their race and what they think of it in turn. What do you guys think, are you up for it?"

At first, everypony was confused by Twilight's idea. After some thought, however, it struck a chord with them all and wide smiles once again spread across all of their faces, with Lyra's once again topping them all.

"OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH, that sounds like a super-duper-totally fun enough to make everypony pass out-idea Twilight. I'd LOOOVE to write about a human girl that spreads joy and smiles everywhere she goes just like me. Though I wonder, would that be too obvious of a self-insert and would everypony start thinking I'm too egotistical for my own good. Nah, nopony co- . . ."

Pinkie Pie's rambling was cut off by Twilight as she used her magic to silence Pinkie yet again. Once Pinkie agreed to calm down Twilight undid the spell and resumed speaking.

"Okay everypony, submit your stories to me by the end of the week and I'll revise them as necessary to make them professional. Remember to make your character unique, but not a self-insert because Pinkie Pie is right; it would give everypony the wrong impression of you if it's too obvious your character is a self-insert. Don't worry about your story having professional level writing, as I do intend to revise them for that purpose without changing the story's content. Once we're all done with this trilogy, only then can we party, agreed?"

Everypony nodded and one by one took a quill and parchment scroll from Twilight's collection and made their way to the front door to head to their respective homes. Lyra was about to grab a quill and parchment scroll herself when Twilight stopped her.

"Sorry Lyra, but this is between me and my friends."

Lyra frowned. "But I want to help out too."

"I'm sure you do," Twilight responded, "And I'm not doubting your creative intellect here or anything, but if I let you help with this pretty soon I'll have to accept everypony's contributions as well to be fair. You understand, right?"

Lyra sighed and hoofed over the quill and parchment scroll. "Sure Twilight, I understand."

Lyra dipped her head down and began trotting toward the front door, eyes threatening to unleash a steady torrent of tears. It was too much for Twilight to take, so she resolved to end the conversation on a positive note.

"Lyra?"

Lyra turned to look over her shoulder. "Yes?"

"You can still write a story and give it to me anyway. I won't use it in the sequel, but I'd love to read some HUMAN fan fiction. I suppose I'll only be a real professional writer when ponies are willing to ripoff my ideas," Twilight said with a chuckle.

Lyra smiled and raised her head back up. "Thanks Twilight."

"No problem," the purple unicorn said as she levitated the quill and parchment scroll back over to the mint green unicorn. With that resolved, Lyra exited the library and began trotting home.

Twilight whistled and fell to the floor in exhaustion. After all the stress she went through today, she was mentally wiped out and needed some rest to recharge her brain so she could begin writing her vignette for the sequel. With a sigh, Twilight rose to her hooves and began the short walk up the library stairs and to her bed, where she fell asleep as soon as she crawled under the covers and laid her head on the pillow.

"ARRRRRRRGGGH!"

Rainbow Dash let out an annoyed grunt and pulled at her mane with her hooves in frustration. She had arrived home immediately following the visit to Golden Oaks and gotten to work brainstorming ideas for her vignette in the sequel to Twilight's story. Two hours had gone by, however, and the cyan Pegasus had yet to put anything down on the parchment. Luna had raised the moon by this time, and Rainbow Dash was starting to worry if she was truly up to the challenge of creation. After all, how could she when she couldn't even figure out the most important aspect of any character.

A name.

"HORSEFEATHERS!" Rainbow screamed as she slammed both hooves onto the cloud desk in her living room, causing the ink to spill over in the process, though she took no notice of it.

The trouble for her had been in the randomness of Twilight's human's names. Unlike ponies' names which were chosen based on appearance, talents, interests, etc, humans (at least from what Dash could understand) put no real thought into making sure their names truly represented who they were, opting instead to pick any name that suit their fancy regardless of its meaning (assuming it had one). Dash would never admit it, but her tendency to use her body before her brain left the latter underused, one result of which being her trouble with the current task at hoof.

Rainbow sighed and stared up at the ceiling of her cloud home. She knew what she wanted her character to be like as a person, but she couldn't start writing him up until he had his own identity. Eventually, she got the idea to choose a name in the most random way she could think up; picking letters out of a bag.

Using an old burlap sack she had stashed away and some letter blocks from when she was a little foal (which were intended to be hoof-me-downs for her own foals when she found her special somepony) she ended up choosing the following letters: two C's, two R's, one H, one U, one S, one K, one I, one O, and one N. Now all that was left was to rearrange them into two name parts.

Dash spent another ten minutes rearranging the letters before a readable name sat on the desk in front of her: C-H-U-C-K for the first part and N-O-R-R-I-S for the second part.

"Awesome," Dash said to herself, "Now to write up his chara-."

Dash's sentence was cut short when the cyan Pegasus instantly fell asleep from mental exhaustion. The howling wind outside and her snores inside were the only sounds that could be heard around Rainbow Dash's floating cloud home for the rest of the night.


End file.
